1947 NERC Season

The 1947 NERC was the 2nd season of the North-Eastern Runty Championship, the first professional runty league in the world. Like the first season, this season featured 6 teams, who all faced each other home and away for a duration of 10 weeks.

The Boston Riders won the league's first official Champions Cup game, defeating the defending champion Hempstead Clippers by 1 point.

Regular Season
The NERC’s 2nd season began on May 10, 1947, with each team playing games at 3:00. Those games included a tight 26-25 by the Bronx in Boston, the reigning champion Hempstead defeating Buffalo by two goals 24-16, and the New York Knights clobbering Staten Island 37-14.

Games of the Week
Week 1: the Bronx 26-25 Boston

Week 2: Boston 27-14 Staten Island

Week 3: Boston 15-23 Hempstead

Week 4: Staten Island 15-16 the Bronx

Week 5: Buffalo 26-24 the Bronx

Week 6: Staten Island 14-12 New York

Week 7: Hempstead 28-24 the Bronx

Week 8: Hempstead 19-23 Boston

Week 9: Buffalo 16-28 Boston

Week 10: Hempstead 22-14 Staten Island

1. HEMPSTEAD CLIPPERS

Leading Goalscorer: Eddy Tracy (15)

Finishing first in the NERC’s second season were the inaugural champions, the Hempstead Clippers, who were dominant. Only one of their 7 wins was within a goal, and their point differential shattered the organized runty record. Led up front by leading goalkicker Eddy Tracy, their high-octane offense rarely failed to connect, and if they were struggling, the defense, led by Sam Albrek, would get the job done. Columnists were shocked that they didn’t finish unbeaten. Instead, the Clippers finished at 7-2-1, the best regular season record seen in the league’s short history.

2. BOSTON RIDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Charlie Norris (8)

Finishing second were the Boston Riders, who finished just 6 points outside the playoff picture in 1946. Despite having the fewest goals from a leading goalscorer, they received contributions from every position to give them the second-best offense and best defense in the league. As well, they played exceptional away from home, winning 4 out of 5 games not played in Boston. Key players for the Riders included CF Charlie Norris, and the Addison brothers, who kept the backline strong. The Riders finished at 7-3.

3. NEW YORK KNIGHTS

Leading Goalscorer: Joe Hunnith (10)

Coming in the third spot were the reigning regular season champions, the New York Knights. The Knights finished where they were predicted; worse than in 1946, but still in the top half of the league. While their offense took a step back, their defense improved, allowing under 200 points. 1946 scoring champion Joe Hunnith continued leading the team up front, while Oliver Chern headlined the much-improved defensive core. In the end, the Knights finished 5-4-1.

4. BUFFALO PANTHERS

Leading Goalscorer: Artie Booth (12)

Coming in fourth were the Buffalo Panthers, who slightly improved from their disappointing 1946 season. Their most notable player was once again the young Artie Booth, whose offseason growth helped him finish third in the league in goal-scoring. Booth’s growth seemed to help Buffalo’s whole offensive core, as they averaged 3.6 more points per game than in 1946. Despite this growth, the key issue for the Panthers remained their defense, who gave up the most points in the NERC. The Panthers finished at 4-6, 1 point better than in 1946.

5. THE BRONX BEARS

Leading Goalscorer: Chester Uptan (9)

Tragedy struck the Bears in the offseason, as star forward Denny McTominay, after an awkward tackle during a friendly match resulted in a ruptured appendix, which he later passed away from. This was a huge loss for the Bronx, and it showed, as they fell hard in 1947. Their offense averaged 5 less points per game, putting more pressure on the defense, which they could hold more often than not. The Bears are lucky that all teams make the playoffs with the league’s new format, otherwise it would’ve been a total loss of a season. The Bronx finished at 3-7.

6. STATEN ISLAND ISLANDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Andy Kennard (13)

Coming in last place once again were the Islanders, though they were showing slight signs of improvement. First, forward Andy Kennard broke out offensively, finishing second in the league in goals. However, the rest of the offense was abysmal, as they averaged under 14 points per game. Defensively, a new strategy employed by coach Biff Rickshaw resulted in them only allowing the third-most points in the league, compared to being far and away the worst defensive team in the league in 1946. While the Islanders still have a lot of work to do to become competitive, they’re starting to get some hope. Staten Island finished at 3-7, below the Bronx on point differential.

Playoffs
Before the start of the season, commissioner Elmer Wilkins announced that for the playoffs, the league would be employing a new format, in their greater test to determine the best playoff format for the league. In this new format, every team would make the playoffs. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th overall teams would play a round-robin in one group, while the 2nd, 4th, and 6th overall teams would do the same in a different group. The winners of the two round-robins would then play each other in a championship game.

Notable Events
-  Hempstead’s Sam Albrek scored an amazing end-to-end goal in week 5 against Staten Island, beating 10 separate defenders before scoring.

-   The week 3 game between Buffalo and Staten Island became the first NERC game to have a morning start.

-   A team composed of the NERC’s best players played a two-game series against a team composed of players from Philadelphia’s league. The series was split between the two.

-   In the week 7 games between Buffalo and New York, the ball became damaged due to awful field conditions. However, it was the only ball available, so the two teams had to play on.

-   Hempstead set a runty record with a PD of 63 during the season.

-   In a friendly game against Staten Island, Hempstead scored a runty record of 72 points, as well as a record of a 71-point victory.

-   In that same game, Hempstead’s Bobby Doherty scored 8 goals, a Runty record.

-   For the first time in Runty history, a pair of brothers played against another pair of brothers. Boston’s James and Charles Addison played against Buffalo’s Jack and Andrew Walker.